Dr Ian Donald, policy chair at the British Geriatrics Society and consultant geriatrician at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust, said hospital managers were targeting elderly beds for cuts because they were more expensive.

"Hospitals are desperate to cut costs. We are coming under pressure to discharge people or shift people elsewhere perhaps earlier than might be good for them,” he said.

“The main reason is probably financial; they see elderly care beds are expensive to run and associate it with stays of a couple of weeks rather than a 50-year-old in for three days.

“You do have to understand there is a person at the end of this, who is shunted around. They will be better served by staying in one place.”

The beds are designated for older patients to meet their extra needs, including getting washed and dressed and help with meals. Dr Donald said he estimated they cost twice as much as general medical beds.

Earlier this year, the health service watchdog warned that elderly patients in half of NHS hospitals are not being properly fed or cared for because of a lack of “kindness and compassion”.

Unacceptable care has become standard in some trusts, with doctors and nurses talking down to patients, ignoring their calls for assistance and failing to help them eat, drink or wash, it was claimed.

Among the trusts that have cut elderly care beds was City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust, which reduced its numbers by 69 from 201 in 2010/11 to 132. The trust said some had been transferred to specialist wards.

At Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, 16 per cent of elderly beds were cut, down from 454 in 2009/2010 to 380 in 2010/11.

And 45 elderly beds were cut across three hospitals at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, while there were also 51 fewer urgent care beds.

On Friday, ministers warned patients were being treated like “parts on a production line” after it was reported that the number of patients returning to hospital in an emergency within a month of discharge had risen by more than 75 per cent.

Research has also shown staffing levels on elderly wards vary widely from hospital to hospital.

South Tyneside District Hospital had the worst staff to bed ratio with 59 elderly care beds looked after by just two nurses and four health care assistants, according to the Dr Foster hospital guide.

And the most recent bed figures come months after the health watchdog found one in four NHS hospitals was failing to provide basic standards of care for elderly patients.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association said: “If this was a result of a more effective and efficient NHS, with elderly patients receiving better treatment in the community, then this would be a welcome move.

"However, calls to our Helpline suggest this is far from reality and what we are seeing is cuts to services with patients having to wait longer to be treated in hospital.

"Many patients would prefer to be treated at home, but we know that community services are very patchy across the country.

"The elderly population in the UK is expanding daily – when will the Government realise that we must invest in the long term health of our older generation?”

The NHS is facing efficiency savings of £20 billion by 2015 with this year’s health service budget frozen.

Liz Kendall, shadow minister for care and older people, said the reductions in beds showed the health service was being “cut to the bone”.

“Patients and their families will be extremely concerned to hear that – on top of cuts to vital council services like home help, which can make a big difference in keeping older people out of hospital – the number of hospital beds is being cut too.”

Health Minister Simon Burns said: "It is for local trusts to determine their specific needs on beds. We have made it clear that efficiency savings must not have an adverse impact on the quality and safety of patient care.

"Reducing overnight bed numbers is consistent with medical advances which allow more people to be treated as day cases, when clinically appropriate. This is what most people want – to avoid unnecessary stays in hospital."